Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Why do we.........observe reishiki?

In general terms reishiki refers to the demonstration of
good etiquette or ‘correct behaviours’ in a traditional martial art dojo or
club. This can be anything from knowing the correct way to enter or leave the
training area, how to address your sensei, knowing where and how to stand in
line, to showing good manners and respect to your fellow students. Each club
will have its own variation on reishiki but at the heart of all reishiki is the
concept of respect (for your club, for
your sensei and for each other).

In more specific terms reishiki refers to the opening and
closing ceremonies that most traditional martial art clubs observe and this is
the definition of reishiki that I want to discuss in this post. The word
reishiki is made up of rei (bow or respect) and shiki (ceremony) and is all
about setting the right tone for the class and preparing the students mentally
for the training ahead. I have been involved in seminars or classes where
reishiki has consisted of nothing more than a quick standing bow to sensei at the
beginning and ending of class to a rather elaborate and prolonged standing ,
walking, kneeling, presenting the sword, bowing, more standing, walking
backwards, more kneeling, bowing, standing etc. etc .etc - like a rather
complicated and precisely executed kata. I had the feeling my head would be cut
off if I got it wrong!

These, of course, are two extremes of the bowing
ceremony. A ceremony that is too short
does not adequately prepare the students mentally for the training to come. One
that is too complicated is just unnecessary and time consuming (in my opinion).

So, what should a
reishiki ceremony help the student to achieve?

When we enter a dojo or training hall we are entering a
world that is different to the one outside. Our roles and responsibilities
inside the dojo are often very different to the ones we have outside. You may
be very senior in your career and be in charge of many staff but in the dojo
you may be the new white belt. On the other hand you may be an unskilled manual
worker outside but a senior black belt inside the dojo. It is important to be
able to leave your external roles and responsibilities outside the dojo and
assume your ‘internal’ ones. A reishiki ceremony is one way of helping you to
make this separation of external and internal roles. The wearing of a gi is
another.

Participating in a martial art requires us to learn about
and practice violence towards other human beings. Though the mindset of the
martial artist should be purely about defending oneself, the techniques often needed
to do that are inherently dangerous and violent. It is imperative that training
is done is a controlled and mutually respectful environment that is free from
ego and machismo. Reishiki helps to create this respectful environment.

When practising a martial art we are benefiting from the
skill and teachings of our martial arts forebears, people who devoted most of
their time to developing and perfecting techniques and encoding them in ways
that we can remember today. Reishiki is a way in which we remember and honour
the founders of our system and also honour the sensei that teaches us that
system today.

How does reishiki
achieve these things?

A typical reishiki ceremony:

Sensei gives the following commands:

1.Seiretsu.
The students are called to line up in grade order. This is the time when you
have to address your position in the dojo and let go of external roles which
become unimportant in this context.

2.Seiza. The students sit in a formal kneeling
position. In some clubs the students may be sitting opposite the shomen or
shinzen (shrine). In clubs that meet in a school gym or other temporary ‘dojo’
the students may face a symbolic shomen i.e. face a direction that sensei
points to. Other clubs may miss this stage out altogether and just face sensei.

3.Mokuso. The students close their eyes
and observe a few moments of meditation. The idea of this is to let the
students clear their minds of distracting (outside) thoughts and prepare for
the training ahead. See ‘Why do we…….perform mokuso’

4.Mokuso yame. The students stop
meditating and open their eyes.

The senior student (or a student chosen by
sensei) will then give the commands:

a.Shomen ni rei. The students bow to the
shomen in order to remember and show respect to their founder. In clubs where there is no longer any
connection or communication with their Japanese origins this step may be
omitted altogether.

b.Sensei ni rei. The students bow to sensei to show their
respect to him/her and show that they are ready to listen and learn.

c.Otaga ni rei. The students and sensei
bow to each other in a mutual display of respect and courtesy. Remember, in
martial arts bowing is about showing respect not subservience.

At this point the students may say words
such as onegaishimasu or osu (note that
osu is a contraction of the word onegaishimasu). This basically means "please let me train with
you." It's an entreaty often used in asking the other person to teach you,
and that you are ready to accept the other person's teaching.

Sensei then gives the following commands:

5.Kiritsu. The students stand up with
feet together and arms by their side.

6.Rei. The students perform a small
standing bow to end the ceremony.

The whole ceremony is then repeated at the end of the lesson
with the gesture Arigatou gazaimashita
which means thank you.

Though each class begins and ends with reishiki it must be
remembered that good manners, courtesy and respect must permeate throughout the
class. This keeps the class civilised, controlled and safe at all times and
keeps big egos in check.

After some thought and some other research I believe reishiki also promotes a level of social skills that promote an ability to respectfully communicate with others especially when avoidance is not possible and deescalation is. Something to think about.

Our school is pretty formal in that we follow most of the list you described. We line up, bow to the sensei, seiza, mokuso, then recite our karate oath, stand up and rei again. Then class begins, I love it because it really does help to separate your professional life and allows me to enter my "karate" life, where I'm a beginner. :)